Email scam is an unsolicited email that claims the prospect of a bargain or something for nothing. Some scam messages ask for business, others invite victims to a website with a detailed pitch. Many individuals have lost their life savings due to this type of fraud. Email scam is a form of email fraud.

Email scams

• Advance-fee fraud: Among the variations on this type of scam, are the Nigerian Letter also called the 419 fraud, Nigerian scam, Nigerian bank scam, or Nigerian money offer. The Nigerian Senate emblem is sometime used in this scam.
• El Gordo de la Primitiva Lottery International Promotions Programmes
  El Gordo de la Primitiva Lottery International Promotions Programmes
  El Gordo de la Primitiva Lottery International Promotions Programmes is a lottery scam e-mail or letter, which comes with a payment processing or registration form....
  
  : The intended victim is often told their name or email address was selected through a random computer ballot and sponsored by a marketing company. In order to claim their so-called winnings, the victim is asked to provide their bank account details and other personal information. The victim is asked to contact the claims agent or award department.
• FBI email: Claim to be an “official order” from the FBI’s Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division, from an alleged FBI unit in Nigeria, confirm an inheritance, or contain a lottery notification, all informing recipients they have been named the beneficiary of millions of dollars.
• Hitman
  Hitman
  A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
  
  : An email is sent to the victim's inbox, supposedly from a hitman who has been hired by a "close friend" of the recipient to kill him or her but will call off the hit in exchange for a large sum of money. This is usually backed up with a warning not to contact the local police or FBI, or the "hitman" will be forced to go through with the plan. This is less an advance-fee fraud and more outright extortion, but a reward can sometimes be offered in the form of the "hitman" offering to kill the man who ordered the original hit on the victim.
• Investment Schemes: Emails touting investments that promise high rates of return with little or no risk. One version seeks investors to help form an offshore bank. The Fifth Third Bank
  Fifth Third Bank
  Fifth Third Bank is a U.S. regional banking corporation, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the principal subsidiary of holding company Fifth Third Bancorp ....
  
    brand, name, and logo have been frequently exploited in this scam. The computer security
  Computer security
  Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
  
   company McAfee
  McAfee
  McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
  
   reports that, at the beginning of September 2006, over 33% of phishing scam emails being reported to McAfee were using Fifth Third Bank's brand.
• Phishing
  Phishing
  Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT...
  
  : Typically carried out by email or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.
• Romance scam
  Romance scam
  A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigned romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining their affection, and then using that goodwill to commit fraud...
  
  : Occurs when strangers pretend romantic intentions, gain the affection of victims, and then use that goodwill to gain access to their victims' money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, eand/or national identification numbers or by getting the victims to commit financial fraud on their behalf.
• Secret Shopper
  Secret shopper
  Secret shopper can refer to:* A store detective hired by stores to pretend they are shopping but really watch for shoplifters* A mystery shopper sent to a store to evaluate its employees, customer service, and the like...
  
  : The intended victim is solicited via email to work as a 'Secret Shopper', often after the victim's resume has been posted at a job search site. Once engaged, the victim is sent a counterfeit check along with instructions and forms for work as a secret shopper. The provided instructions typically are to make several small transactions at nearby businesses, recording their experience on an official looking form. Universally is the instruction for the victim to also create a significant wire transfer, with a request to rate the experience. The counterfeit check is cashed at the unsuspecting victim's financial institution in order to accomplish the listed tasks.
• Traffic ticket spam: Fraudulent emails claiming the recipient had been issued a traffic ticket. The spam, which spoofed a nyc.gov email address, claimed to be from the New York State Police (NYSP).
• Word of Mouth
  Word of Mouth (website)
  Word of Mouth is a scam website promoted by spam e-mail."Word of Mouth" spam mails state that an anonymous person posted a secret about the recipient and that he needs to pay a fee in order to see the message. The editors of Snopes examined the scheme and concluded that the scheme is a likely scam,...
  
  : This email spam state that an anonymous person posted a secret about the recipient and that he needs to pay a fee in order to see the message.